My Background in Meditation
My first experience with meditation was a course in Transcendental Meditation (TM) that I took at the Himalayan Institute (NYC) 30 years ago. At the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center (NYC), I learned and practiced yogic meditation faithfully for about 7 years. I also benefited greatly from an intense 4- year apprenticeship with a Dream-oriented shamanic teacher; mostly informal study with a hereditary Kabbalist; and a very helpful and practical approach which I learned from the book Active Meditation: The Western Tradition” by Robert R. Leichtman and Carl Japikse. Since 1998 my mediation practice has centered on my involvement with The 4th Way.* Today, whether alone or when guiding others, my meditation practice is fluid— very much present to the moment— and invites a silence or stillness where one can engage creatively to receive insight, healing and heed the call to service.
* The 4th Way is a path towards gaining “Enlightenment” by working in life — an alternative to the three traditional paths of the yogi, monk or fakir, which require separation from mainstream life. Regardless of the way chosen, actually obtaining “Enlightenment,” needless to say, is quite rare!